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Culture Vultures

1. the arts and other manifestations of human intellectual achievement regarded collectively.

"20th century popular culture"

Synonyms: the arts, the humanities, intellectual achievement

VUL·TURE

(ˈvəlCHər)

Noun

1. a large bird of prey with the head and neck more or less bare of feathers, feeding chiefly on carrion and reputed to gather with others in anticipation of the death of a sick or injured animal or person.

2. a contemptible person who preys on or exploits others.

We’ve reached a point in history where the number of people creating “Art” and the importance of Art is Paramount. It’s just one thing… There are too many “Artist”. The qualifier for the title Artist is so small that it has turned into more of a hobby than something to be looked at as a profession. There is no school for what I do. What I do is real Art. It’s expression at it’s rawest. It’s also articulate and has a base of knowledge which I accumulated through hundreds upon hundreds of hours of education about my craft. As in there is a purpose in creating Art aside from pure aesthetics. The purpose of creating Art should be to question every aspect of existence and bridge new ideas of what we hold to be true in this world. So disregard the beauty alone and ask what a piece is saying altogether.

This is what we have been driven away from with the commercialization of Art and Artist alike. Not only can an Artist be exploited while they’re alive, their work and entire existence is pimped out after they die (please don’t pimp me out, as I have plans for all my work after I die: leave it the fuck alone). How often do I see Basquiat’s crown that sits firmly atop my head used in all your shitty works of “Art”? Too fucking often. His insignias are not yours to use as proof of your understanding of “High Art” and is usually a marker of your true understanding. This brings me to my thesis: Art is dead.

Now we live in a time where musicians will place a gold frame around their album and call it a masterpiece for the sake of it being framed! The superficial nature of people and the new accessibility of technology provided to the masses has been the nail in the coffin for my beloved Art. People see money in something and flock to emulate what someone else did to make that money (grabbing market shares). This capitalist idea being applied to Art is corrosive and poisonous and is only slated to continue. It has been occurring for quite some time, but only now has it reached a point where real Art gets swept under the rug in place of emulated Art.

No longer are our hearts and souls put into the Art. We take the Art we’ve been given and sample the hell out of it. There’s no more originality (outside of myself), I don’t see any innovation. I don’t get wowed when consuming any kind of Art as I used to circa 2000. It’s like I’m only consuming regurgitated shit that’s being proposed as a 5 course meal because it’s been plated nicely. I can’t be the only one who smells this shit. Something’s just not right. It’s the same kind of not right you get when you can tell someone is trying to be different. They aren’t different, they just desire to be. This doesn’t take away from the fact that they are aiming for a certain different which just happens to be regurgitated shit already. So the shit has been reprocessed 8 times over and now we have 8 different shit eating birds claiming to have eaten the original shit. Let me help you understand something: it’s still shit.

When you made something truly original you can’t cross reference it to a former work. And if you pay homage in your work it should still incorporate your style. So if you want to make something Picasso inspired it needs to be your style and his inspiration. Not the other way around. It doesn’t even work the other way around. You can’t do what’s already been done. You can perform a rendition. But it will never be as great as the original. Without them there would be no you, whatever you do. SO PAY YOUR REPECTS. Stop getting paid for the work of others without lending credit of your successes to them loudly and publicly. But really, you just shouldn’t bite the dicks of Artist if you can’t show respect. If you don’t know how to respect Art maybe you just shouldn’t be making Art (professionally).

I am the carcass of Culture. My soul has yet to leave the body. The remnants of my existence will only be marked with beak scratches on the skeleton of my former self. And then, dust. Art will be no more if you refuse to help me resurrect it. There is hope for a better tomorrow. There is more to this world than we can possibly perceive. More than the physical. More than money. More than ego. I believe if we create with the intent to express the deepest insecurities and desires of our souls we can perhaps transcend these savage creatures who tear at the flesh of our being.

In all seriousness, with all literally devices aside, you fake Artist make it hard for people like me who put my very last dollar into bringing you a more beautiful, better world. Taking time out of my life to chase a dream that isn’t necessarily guaranteed to benefit me, but will definitely benefit someone else in the future, isn’t fair to us who will spill all our guts and perhaps see no glory. I’m still considered a starving Artist, while I know that somewhere in this world some person who is riding on the coattails of someone else’s work (and perhaps mine in the future) is eating. Those are two very polar opposites. I’m working my ass off to give you acts of inception as someone who understands the vision to the slightest degree is about to capitalize on them. I hunt for my prey, though the vultures will just circle me till I’m dead having let time do all the work for them.